General Kinematics’ Vibra-Drum® sand and casting equipment has revolutionised high volume mould and sand handling for foundry applications, says the company. Proven in hundreds of applications around the world, this versatile two-mass system provides a shakeout system which prevents damage to castings, reduces sand lumps to grain size, and equalises shakeout sand and casting temperatures, all in one continuous, energy-efficient operation.

The Vibra-Drum® delivers a high range of shakeout capacity from 30 TPH to 400 TPH, plus material motion for efficient sand and casting processing and achieves four key objectives:

1. Provides a gentle shakeout, gradually reducing surface defects. This is accomplished by keeping the casting immersed in a bed of sand, never allowing the casting to drop, thus eliminating impact between other castings or equipment surfaces.
2. Accomplishes a cooling environment. Achieved with evaporative cooling of moisture from the sand, and the conductive transfer of heat from the casting to the sand. Casting temperatures will be reduced to an average below 100° C.
3. Castings are cleaned in the Vibra-Drum® from the vibratory agitation of sand on the outer surface of the castings.
4. Sand lumps are broken down providing a homogenous mixture of sand. This is achieved through continuous agitation and drying of the sand from the transfer of heat from the casting to the sand.

The Vibra-Drum® is a natural dust containment system. The tubular body construction and non-rotating design allows cooling and evaporative air to be directed into the material. Additionally this design is easier to feed and easier to unload. Designed with a rolled AR400 liner system, which is easy to inspect and replace if necessary. Lastly, the drum design does not generate excessive casting noise as the parts are immersed in sand, preventing impact noise.

With two key patents (5,591,074 and 6,237,749), the Vibra-Drum® is engineered around General Kinematics’ unique two-mass design. Two-mass refers to a style of vibratory equipment where one mass (an exciter) is used to drive a second mass (drum body). The exciter mass typically contains a motor and is connected to a trough using a combination of springs. Combining the two masses and the springs, a responsive sub-resonant system is created which responds to changes in load. The unique two-mass sub-resonant tuned system only General Kinematics can engineer, means the Vibra-Drum® is designed to compensate for variations in load size and weight.

The natural frequency drums have few moving parts. Maintenance for the Vibra-Drum® is contained to bearing lubrication and monitoring of motor and drive components. The other key benefit of the two-mass Vibra-Drum® design is the dynamic balancing of the active drive side, preventing the transmittal of energy into foundations.

For further details contact Lauds Foundry Equipment on TEL: 011 8241238 or email sales@laudsfe.com or visit www.laudsfe.com or www.generalkinematics.com